The Warehouse Incident
by Xennariel
Summary: General Grumman sends Roy and Riza to the East City Warehouse district to investigate possible paranormal activity.


Well, this is very late, but here's a little spooky Halloween royai fun for you. Halloween in December is totally my kind of thing though.

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Colonel Roy Mustang and Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye were on a strange mission. Reports of eerie sights and sounds from the East City warehouse district had been flooding in for the past two weeks and General Grumman had finally had enough. He didn't believe in any of that paranormal hogwash and decided to send in Mustang's unit to deal with the supposed sightings just so he could say something had been done about it and hopefully stop getting calls every hour about spooky ghost ridiculousness.

Mustang and Hawkeye stepped out of their car and approached the entrance to the area that apparently had the most activity. Neither of them really believed in any of that supernatural rubbish either and they were eager to get this mission over with. They deemed it a waste of their time, but orders were orders and if they could clear this up, it would be another good mark to Mustang's name.

It was an unusually warm evening for Autumn, but that did nothing to stop the chills that suddenly ran down their spines from just walking into the warehouse district. As dusk settled over the city, Riza followed Roy deeper into the rows of warehouses until they came upon warehouse number thirteen, the one that many workers were too afraid to to go anywhere near.

A shadow moved across one of the upper windows, but it went unnoticed as Roy and Riza entered the building.

"I have to admit," Roy said as he and Riza glanced about the empty warehouse. "It _does_ feel creepy in here, but I haven't seen or heard anything so far that would make the workers so nervous."

"Mm," Riza mumbled in agreement. "Neither have I."

A sudden loud bang behind them made them jump and Riza swiveled quickly to aim her gun in the direction of the sound, Roy following suit by lifting his hand, ready to snap at the first sign of danger. Whatever either of them expected, it certainly wasn't the little blonde girl who poked her head out from behind a pile of crates and boxes. The girl stepped out from her hiding place, sniffling and rubbing at her eyes. Her eyes and nose were red, evidence that she must have been crying for a while.

Roy and Riza exchanged a glance before Riza sighed and reholstered her gun, turning to walk toward the girl, smiling kindly so she wouldn't scare her any more than she already was. Roy followed, but kept his gloves on, still wary about the unsettling atmosphere surrounding them. He looked around the empty warehouse cautiously, finally glancing back at Riza who crouched down to speak to the girl.

"It's all right," Riza said to the little girl, reaching out her hand. "We won't hurt you. We're here to help. Are you okay?"

The little girl sniffled again and shook her head.

"My mommy...I can't find my mommy. I got lost and when I turned around she was gone."

"Oh no, that must be scary. We'll help you find her," Riza looked up at Roy for confirmation. "Right?"

Roy's eyes darted around the room once more, eyeing the little girl before focusing on Riza again and nodding.

"Yeah, we can help. Doesn't seem to be much else going on here and it will give us a chance to look around more."

Riza smiled softly and nodded, turning her attention back to the girl.

"See? It's going to be okay. What's your name?"

The girl looked down at her feet shyly.

"Sara."

"That's a pretty name. I'm Riza. Stay close to us while we look for your mom, okay, Sara?"

Sara nodded, still staring at her feet. She was very shy and Riza thought it was kind of cute.

Standing up straight again, Riza followed Roy out of the warehouse, making sure the little girl was right next to her so she wouldn't get lost again.

"Where did you last see your mom?" Roy asked once they had exited the warehouse.

Sara looked around slowly, furrowing her brow in thought as if she were trying very hard to remember where she and her mom had been separated.

"I think we were over there," she said after a few moments, pointing to a warehouse in the back of the area. "Please hurry and find her, it's scary here."

Roy nodded, silently agreeing that it was indeed feeling increasingly creepy, and the three continued their trek deeper into the warehouse district. The closer they came to the back warehouse, the more foggy it seemed to become. The ghostly tendrils of white mist flitted about their ankles as they approached the dark and foreboding building. It was even more silent there than the rest of the area, if that were possible.

Riza moved her hand to hover over her gun at her side, an unsettling feeling washing over her as Roy reached to open the door to the warehouse. The metal door squealed on its hinges as Roy pushed it open slowly, the sound echoing through the musty and mostly empty building.

The three of them stepped into the surprisingly chilly warehouse tentatively. Roy breathed out and his breath hung in the air like a tiny puff of smoke. The place was empty, save for one stack of crates on the far end of the large open room.

None of them saw anyone and they were about to give up their search and move on to a different area when Riza caught sight of a figure standing near the lone stack of crates.

"Colonel," she said, gaining Roy's attention and gesturing to the figure of a woman in a pale blue ankle length dress, her hair pulled neatly into a loose braid.

The woman's back was facing them and she looked almost translucent, but that could have been a trick of the dim light and the distance they were standing from her.

"Mommy!" Sara suddenly shouted excitedly and ran from Riza's side toward the woman across the room.

The woman turned at the sound of Sara's voice. She smiled widely and spread her arms, crouching down to Sara's level. Sara rushed into the woman's arms and the two hugged, obviously happy to be reunited. After a few moments, the woman stood, still holding Sara's hand, and she and Sara smiled at Roy and Riza.

"Thank you for bringing my daughter back to me."

"Thank you for helping me find my mommy!"

Before Roy or Riza could say anything, the mother and daughter slowly began to dissolve right before their eyes. Roy and Riza's eyes widened and, in a matter of seconds, Sara and her mother were gone.

"Um...Did you see that?" Roy asked, blinking and staring in disbelief at the spot Sara and her mother had been. "Did that just happen?"

Riza, also still staring at the place the mother and daughter disappeared, nodded slowly.

"Yes…"

Without another word, Mustang and Hawkeye backed up, their movements slow and uncoordinated, before they turned and hurried out of the warehouse. Roy slammed the door behind them and they all but ran out of the warehouse district, jumping into their car and speeding off without looking back.

As Riza drove, a little faster than than was legal, Roy glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and opened and closed his mouth a few times as if he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to say it.

"Lieutenant…" he finally spoke. "Can...Can I stay at your place tonight?"

He asked the question in such a quiet voice, he was worried Riza didn't hear him. But, her hearing was just about as good as her eyesight, and she nodded, having heard him just fine.

"Of course, sir," she agreed immediately, which was strange for her.

Normally she would refuse him until he pouted and she ended up giving in. She was definitely just as spooked as Roy if she wasn't arguing his request to go to her apartment, even though her usual calm poker face was in place. Outwardly, there were no signs that she was scared, but the experience must have unnerved her as well, Roy mused, and he was grateful she was okay with him staying with her.

He hadn't believed in ghosts until that night, but there was no denying what he saw. Riza had seen it too.

Riza parked the car at a curb a ways away from her apartment building. Just because her nerves had been frazzled didn't mean it would make her forget that her being seen entering her apartment with the colonel was something they needed to avoid. If someone saw his car parked at her building, there would be rumours, and they certainly did not want to deal with that. There were enough of those as it was.

Bounding up the steps to her apartment, they quickly made their way inside where they were greeted by Hayate, as always. Neither paid the pup any attention though and, disappointed, he went back to his bed in the corner to pout.

Riza went right into her kitchen to make tea and Roy hovered around her until it was ready. They sat on her couch as close as they could get, shoulders touching, cups of tea clutched in their hands.

"Let us never speak of this night again," Roy muttered, sipping his tea, still in shock over what they had witnessed not even an hour before.

"Right," Riza nodded in agreement.

They sat in silence for a while, sipping their tea, taking comfort in each other's presence. Once their tea was finished, they set down their cups and leaned back on the couch, not sure what to say about what had happened. How did one discuss a ghost encounter when neither person had believed in any of that just a few hours earlier?

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight," Roy said, breaking the silence.

Riza nodded and leaned into him a little more.

"Yeah…"

"Stay up and talk with me?"

A ghost of a smile played on Riza's lips as Roy slipped his arm around her gently.

"I think I can do that."

At some point in the early hours of the morning, they had managed to fall asleep, and when Riza's alarm went off, signalling it was time for them to get ready for work, they woke in each other's arms, still on the couch, empty tea cups left on the coffee table.

That day, it was reported that whatever Mustang had done, it had fixed the problem in the warehouse district. The workers were no longer afraid and everything was back to normal. Roy and Riza had given each other knowing looks when they were informed of this, but neither brought up the Warehouse Incident ever again. Some things were better left undiscussed.

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This was originally going to be much darker, but I decided to keep it on the lighter, more humorous side, like the rest of my fics because you all know by now that I'm a sucker for humor and fluff. Thanks for reading!


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